Türkiye's competition authority agrees cooperation declaration with African agencies

Türkiye's Competition Authority has agreed a joint declaration with competition agencies from 24 African countries and three regional bodies on sharing experience, joint projects and training, after hosting what it called the Türkiye-Africa Competition Authorities İstanbul Meeting on 29 and 30 September. It also signed a bilateral cooperation protocol with the Gambia Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, according to the authority's press release of 2 October.

The authority said the initiative follows the "multidimensional partnership that has recently developed between Türkiye and Africa" and aims at long-term institutional cooperation to promote competition culture, build institutional capacity and support open, fair and competitive markets. The stated purpose is to strengthen the contribution of competition policy to economic growth, investment, consumer welfare and sustainable development. It places the effort alongside its existing work with the Balkan competition authorities and those of the Organization of Turkic States, the release says.

Who attended

Senior representatives of three regional institutions attended: the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Competition and Consumer Commission, the East African Community Competition Authority and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). National authorities were represented from Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Cabo Verde, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eswatini, the Gambia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Seychelles, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, according to the Turkish authority.

Delegations presented their own activities and shared case examples, an exchange the participants agreed to expand and continue, the release says.

What the declaration commits to

The Joint Declaration, read out by the authority's Vice President, Hakan Bilir, at the close of the meeting, sets out three areas of joint work with the African authorities and regional institutions, according to the release:

• periodically sharing experience and information on competition legislation and practice in each country;
• carrying out joint projects and organising meetings and events;
• capacity-building among competition authorities, including study visits and training programmes.

The release describes these as activities aimed in particular at raising awareness of competition law and policy and spreading competition culture in the region. It does not set out a timetable, a budget or a secretariat for the work.

The protocol with the Gambia is more specific. It provides for exchanging information and experience on legislative developments and investigations, mutual study visits and expert training, the release says. It is intended to encourage and strengthen cooperation in competition law enforcement and competition policy, and leaves room for what the authority calls other active cooperation opportunities. Bilateral meetings were also held between the Turkish authority and other participants.

Why it matters

For companies active in both Türkiye and Africa, the practical significance lies in the planned sharing of information on investigations and case practice. The declaration sets out planned activities, and the release does not say that confidential case information will be exchanged; the Gambia protocol refers to information on investigations conducted, without further detail.

Several of the participating authorities are active enforcers in their own right. South Africa's Competition Commission, for example, referred local units of three global medical equipment makers to its Competition Tribunal on 8 October over alleged restrictions on independent repairers, according to its statement. The Turkish authority, for its part, has opened a series of investigations in recent weeks, including into labour-market practices and a dominance case in instant noodles, its announcements page shows.

The meeting adds an African track to a cooperation network the Turkish authority has built mainly towards the Balkans and the Turkic states. Whether it develops into case cooperation will depend on follow-up that the declaration leaves open.